


"Told You I've Got Your Back"

by Ambrose



Category: NCIS: New Orleans
Genre: F/F, Happy Ending, I'm inaugurating that ship tag apparently, Post-307, Some angst, everyone is bi deal with it, some minor violence and injuries (not described in too much detail), when you can't read other fics to get a feel for them, you have no idea how hard it is to write for characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 13:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8754409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambrose/pseuds/Ambrose
Summary: Percy and Gregorio get closer to each other over time, until the inevitable happens.





	

First she realises she doesn't hate Gregorio. The woman has her principles and she likes to stick to the rules, and that gets on Sonja's nerves more often than not, but she's also changing, adapting to their team and learning when to bend these rules to do what is right. And Sonja respects a woman with an integrity. 

Besides, she's got her back. Sonja can't even begin to express her relief when Gregorio shows up to talk down Ramone and stands by her side. But it's normal, it's what they do - and yet, Sonja's a mess, she trusted this guy, and look where it got her - and she's not sure anyone but Gregorio could understand that, right now. Certainly not LaSalle. He'd have her back, too, but it'd be just... different. She can't involve him in this, he wouldn't understand.

And as it turns out, Sonja and Tammy (she doesn't know when she started to call her Tammy) first bond over the men they loved and hated, the men that disappointed them. Tammy is perched on Sonja's desk, and reveals what must be her most hurtful secret, and Sonja knows she gets it. They've both been hurt, betrayed, they've both trusted people who didn't deserve it, didn't deserve them. They act like this is nothing, pretend they're not bonding or becoming friends, but really they are.

And Tammy's got her back. She proves it over and over again, case after case. And when time comes for her to leave back to DC, Sonja thinks she'll have to say goodbye to her new friend, but Tammy stays. There is something unsaid between them, but unlike with Chris, it doesn't bother her. It's in the small gestures and the longing looks and the fierce way in which they have each other's backs - the way Tammy reacts whenever she's in danger - she's lost that proverbial impartiality she said was key to her work, she's involved, she's part of their team. And maybe it's just that, but when Tammy says she's staying, Sonja has a feeling it's not all there is to it. 

There's something unsaid between them and sometimes Sonja thinks she should just say it. Yet she relishes the status quo, the tension between them and the banter. It's comfortable and she doesn't want that to go. They both know they've got a way to fuck things up for themselves. 

 

One night, though, they find themselves at Pride's bar for a beer after a long day's work. Percy has been preoccupied all day, and she knows Gregorio caught on to it. She knows she's going to ask, and there's no delaying this talk. So she swallows some liquid courage and turns to her partner, sitting next to her on a bar stool.

"You could just ask instead of just staring at me."

"I don't know. Are you gonna answer?"

Sonja sighs. 

"Got this childhood friend of mine. She went into witsec some time ago, but she's coming back for the trial, and Pride gave me a heads up we're part of the protection detail. I'm not sure I can deal with that."

"What happened?"

"We had a fall off. She started doing drugs, I couldn't stop it. And then years later, when I found her again... I had to threaten to put her daughter with child services if she didn't help us. She hates me."

"You really loved her, uh?"

Sonja can only nod. She doesn't need to explain this. She's not sure she even wants to. Gregorio will get it. She's never even told Pride or Christopher. That was between her and Marian, and them alone. And that was long ago. 

"Just take yourself off the case. Everyone'll understand. You don't have to go into the particulars..." 

She doesn't know when they've started having these heartfelt conversations instead of the casual banter... Or she knows, really, it's back to that day when they dealt with that asshole Ramone she'd fallen for. In hindsight, she did her fair share of betrayals too. 

"Don't beat yourself up for it," Gregorio says, as if she's reading into her thoughts. She squeezes her shoulder, and they fall back into a comfortable silence. Sonja's mind is still a battlefield of conflicted emotions, but at least she knows Tammy has her back there too.

 

She's not always that lucky, though. They may all have each other's backs, but they're humans, and mistakes happen. Sonja gets taken by some right-wing idiots who think they can blow up the city in all impunity. She makes it, but roughed up, bloodied, and she's pretty sure she's got a concussion. It hurts pretty much everywhere. One thing she remembers, as she has nothing to pass the time in her hospital bed but to relive the events, is the anger and the anguish on Gregorio's face when she burst into that warehouse, her single-mindedness as she eliminated the perps to get to Sonja, make sure she was there. It's an image to cling to, amidst all the pain and the memories of pain. 

Tammy visits her every day, brings her new books to read and news from the office, and she looks worried as ever and like she doesn't get enough rest, like Sonja never got out of that warehouse, or something happened there that she doesn't want to talk about, but she won't say anything and pretend all is okay, and Sonja isn't sure she can ask. 

Even when she's released from the hospital but still not cleared for work, Tammy still visits. Now and then she brings a pack of beers, or take-out, and they talk of everything and nothing, of what is happening at the office and in their lives. They just never talk about what happened. 

Sometimes they even fall asleep together on the couch, watching the telly, but when Sonja wakes up Tammy's already gone. 

 

It's been going on for weeks, and Sonja has had it. She's going back to work in the morning, cleared by the doctor and the shrink, but she feels like Tammy is the one who could use a therapy session. So when the woman comes in as usual, Sonja doesn't turn on the TV or anything, she just sits there on the couch, facing her. 

"Alright, out with it. What's up with you?"

Gregorio looks down, but doesn't answer.

"You come here every other night, and I'm not gonna say I don't enjoy it, but it's always like there's a cloud hanging over you, ever since... I got taken," she says carefully. "You're not doing all this because you think you owe me something, are you?"

"No, I... It's not that. I genuinely want to be here, with you," Tammy admits, and it feels like the first honest, serious talking they've done since everything happened. "I just can't get behind the fact that you almost died all because I didn't have your back. And I was furious, I was... I really wasn't myself anymore."

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Sonja tries to reassure her. "It just happens, that's the job. You did all you could. And you did get me in the end."

"Yeah. I guess that's why we don't get permanent partners at the FBI," she says, and it's like the cool agent mask is back on - but only for a while. "I just never expected it to... I mean, I knew working with the same people over and over would get me implicated, emotionally involved. I made my peace with that. But I just never thought it'd get me _that_ emotionally involved. It's not..." she frowns. "It's not good. For the work."

Sonja laughs. "For the work?"

"Well, yeah. That almost got you killed."

"Pardon me, Miss FBI Protocol, I know I was a bit out of it so maybe I didn't see everything, but I was under the impression you're the one who took out the bad guys, not made them kidnap me."

Tammy laughs too. "See, that's the problem. I can't think..."

"You can't think straight, yeah," Sonja grinned. "Kinda noticed that." 

"... It's that obvious, uh?" She takes a deep breath. "It just all... made me realise. More than the fact that I can't always protect you... I just can't lose you. And I don't know... what to do with that information."

"Easy. You just keep showing up with beers and take-out and I'm not going to throw you out any time soon," Sonja smiles.

Tammy laughs at her joke, but she doesn't seem entirely convinced. 

"Look, it's the job, we might as well get over the fact that it can happen. and do what we can with the time we have. I've been wanting to have that kind of conversation with you for a long time - before I even told you about Marian, actually. We're good together - as a team, I mean. So long as that doesn't change, the job's not the problem. As for the rest, we can just figure it out as we go. If you want, of course."

She figures Tammy leaning forward and pressing her lips against hers is very much a yes. 

"If I'd known all it took was some beers and takeout," Tammy eventually smiles when they pull away, "I'd have done that way sooner."

"Oh no, you're not getting credit for that! I think it's fair to say _my_ almost dying is what got us there!"

The banter soon dissolves into more kisses, until they both decide they're better than horny teenagers, and should probably take this slow. After all, they've got a history of fucking things up for themselves, and they very much don't want that to happen this time around. As they settle in front of the tv, as they usually do, but this time leaning against each other, way closer, and enjoying this moment, Sonja reflects that maybe their bad lucks will cancel each other out. In any case, it's the first time in weeks that she feels Gregorio really relaxed, and she knows that because the woman has her arm around her and they're as close as they can get without Sonja being practically on Tammy's lap, and she feels like this, really, is all she could wish for, to know her partner is happy.  


End file.
